The intersection of Ninth Avenue Northwest and Caribou Street West is now open after months of construction, but some area streets affected by the work will need further upgrades next spring.
During the Nov. 8 regular council meeting, Coun. Dawn Luhning asked city administration about work that still needed to be completed on the west side of Caribou between Ninth and 10th avenues.
“It’s pretty rough and the cut-ins are in the middle of the lanes,” she said, before asking when those issues will be addressed.
The trenches and service connection trenches dug across the lanes have been repaved, while the remainder of the road will be milled and receive asphalt overlay next spring, said Bevan Harlton, director of engineering.
Coun. Doug Blanc was also concerned about that intersection and asked whether city hall would paint lines on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Caribou Street West, especially since that corner has the highest traffic count in Moose Jaw.
“I get complaints about people driving down the centre,” he added.
For capital projects such as this, road repairs usually bring the street back to the condition it was before, which means no lines will be pained on those two blocks of Caribou since they were never there before, said Harlton. However, adding lines is something city administration can discuss.
The intersection is marked, which is the most important thing since traffic there is high, and most vehicles travel north and south, said Darrin Stephanson, director of public works. However, he agreed that city administration could discuss adding road lines on the east and west sides of Caribou.
More issues on Ninth and Caribou
During a media scrum after the meeting, city manager Jim Puffalt said that since construction season had finished, contractors ensured that the intersection was driveable until more could be done in the spring. Furthermore, the hot mix asphalt plant has shut down, so the city cannot do any other work.
“We obviously want to get a good driving surface for people and not have to worry about mud and anything else,” he added.
City hall has fixed more than 8,000 potholes this year using hot mix asphalt, Puffalt continued. The hot mix is more effective than the cold mix, the latter of which the municipality uses during the winter until a permanent fix is made in the spring or summer.
“We’ll be doing what we can over the next few months … ,” he said.
The purpose of ripping up some streets is to install new cast iron water mains, which addresses sewer backup issues that might have affected homeowners on that block in the past, continued Puffalt. While he couldn’t 100-per-cent guarantee that sewer backups would never happen again, the city will do what it can.
“We’re glad to get that street done … . From Ninth to First, there’s only a block or two that’s not been completed,” he said, adding eliminating poor pavement and installing new asphalt — the latter having a 20-year lifespan — will reduce potholes and water main breaks.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Nov. 22.
